Business Continuity Management

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Renfrewshire preparedness

The council is a large complex organisation providing the community with a number of critical or essential services. These services operate through a number of interlinked systems, some heavily IT dependent, some staff dependent and usually concentrated into a single strategic building, area office or specialised centre. There is an expectation that these services or resources will always be available, uninterrupted and resilient.

To match these expectations, the council has in place robust resilience and continuity arrangements to absorb or recover from major disruption and continue to provide at least the essential, core services. This is particularly important given the council's new centralised HQ complex, increasingly sophisticated IT and communication systems and customer-facing flagship projects such as the customer contact and customer services centres.

There are a number of scenarios where the council could face a disruptive situation which threatens its ability to keep services running. This is of particular relevance during a major emergency event which affects the community and the council at the same time. The council now has a legal responsibility to reduce the negative effects of such an event by putting in place business continuity arrangements that increase its resistance to disruption.

Councils also have to provide support to the emergency services during an emergency incident. Normally the council acts in support of the emergency services and the community from a position of strength: however, all systems have potential weaknesses. The government expect that the council will keep essential services operational, even through a period of major disruption. The council are also expected to have resources and emergency management systems in place which reduce the impact of a major crisis event and help them to manage the outcomes.

Advice to business
A disaster recovery or business continuity plan is essential to protect the wellbeing of any organisation. A number of resources and aids are available to help in planning and preparing for disaster.

Introduction to Business Continuity Management

• Guidance from the UK Resilience website

• Set up in 1994 to give members guidance and support from fellow business continuity practitioners.

• From the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), this booklet describes proven good practice for procurement, programmes, projects, risk and service management.